WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD, 13 November 2002 — US President George W. Bush yesterday dismissed the Iraqi Parliament’s rejection of a UN resolution and said he was waiting to hear from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on whether he will disarm peaceably or face attack. “The Iraqi Parliament is nothing but a rubber stamp for Saddam Hussein,” Bush told reporters. “There’s no democracy. This guy’s a dictator, and so we’d like to see what he says.”
Iraq’s Parliament unanimously rejected a new UN Security Council resolution calling on Baghdad to disarm or face “serious consequences.” Iraq has until Friday to indicate its acceptance of the resolution. The final say rests with Iraq’s Revolutionary Command Council, led by Saddam.
“There isn’t anybody that takes the voice of the Iraqi Parliament seriously,” added Sean McCormack, a White House spokesman. “There is only one voice that matters in Iraq under the regime of Saddam Hussein, and that’s Saddam Hussein.”
“This is pure theater,” McCormack said. Bush said there will be no negotiations and Iraq’s only choice is whether to comply. “If Saddam Hussein does not comply to the detail of the resolution, we will lead a coalition to disarm him,” Bush said during a tour of the Washington, DC, police headquarters.
Members of the 250-seat Iraq’s Parliament railed against the US-drafted resolution as a violation of sovereignty and a pretext for war, before leaving the final word to Saddam. Speaker Saadoun Hammadi said Parliament had unanimously voted to reject the UN demands, approving a motion which a senior deputy read out at the session’s end.
“Parliament recommendations are to reject the UN resolution in accordance with the opinion of our people, who put their confidence in us, and authorize the political leadership to take the appropriate decision to defend Iraq’s independence, sovereignty and dignity,” the deputy said.
The final say on Iraq’s acceptance of the resolution rested all along with the Revolutionary Command Council, Iraq’s highest authority led by Saddam.
Saddam’s son Uday earlier in the day urged the assembly to accept the UN resolution at its emergency session, which began on Monday. “What is required from us as a National Assembly is to take clear decisions. We should, as a National Assembly, accept the UN resolution,” he said in a working paper sent to the assembly yesterday. (The Independent)
